Using a conversation context to manage conference participants

Abstract

Using a conversation context to manage conference participants including receiving a request from an invitee to join a conference in progress; extracting audio from the conference; converting said audio to data describing the conference; matching data to a context, wherein the context comprises a specification of a subject matter of the conference and a list of authorized participants for the conference; comparing the invitee to the list of the authorized participants for the conference; responsive to determining that the invitee matches an authorized participant of the list of authorized participants for the conference, granting permission to the invitee to join the conference; and responsive to determining that the invitee does not match an authorized participant of the list of authorized participants for the conference, denying the invitee access to the conference.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 by first computing instructions executed by a computing system: 
 receiving a request from an invitee to join a conference in progress; 
 extracting audio from the conference in progress, the audio including at least a portion of the conference in progress; 
 converting said audio to data describing the conference including transcribing the at least a portion of the conference in progress; 
 matching the data to a context, wherein the context comprises a specification of a subject matter of the conference and a list of authorized participants for the conference; 
 comparing the invitee to the list of the authorized participants for the conference; 
 responsive to determining that the invitee matches an authorized participant of the list of authorized participants for the conference, granting permission to the invitee to join the conference; and 
 responsive to determining that the invitee does not match an authorized participant of the list of authorized participants for the conference, denying the invitee access to the conference. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the context comprises a calendar event. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein a scheduled time of the calendar event does not match a time of the conference in progress. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the list of authorized participants comprises a restriction level, and wherein determining that the invitee does not match an authorized participant of the list of authorized participants for the conference comprises determining that a restriction level of the invitee does not match the restriction level of the list of authorized participants. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein matching said data to a context further comprises matching the context to a file presented during the conference in progress. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein matching said data to a context further comprises matching said data to data stored in a calendar event file for the context. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein converting said audio to data describing the conference further comprises extracting the audio information from the conference beginning at expiration of a most extended audio lapse. 
     
     
       8. An apparatus comprising a computing device, a computer processor, and a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:
 receiving a request from an invitee to join a conference in progress; 
 extracting audio from the conference in progress, the audio including at least a portion of the conference in progress; 
 converting said audio to data describing the conference including transcribing the at least a portion of the conference in progress; 
 matching the data to a context, wherein the context comprises a specification of a subject matter of the conference and a list of authorized participants for the conference; 
 comparing the invitee to the list of the authorized participants for the conference; 
 responsive to determining that the invitee matches an authorized participant of the list of authorized participants for the conference, granting permission to the invitee to join the conference; and 
 responsive to determining that the invitee does not match an authorized participant of the list of authorized participants for the conference, denying the invitee access to the conference. 
 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the context comprises a calendar event. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein a scheduled time of the calendar event does not match a time of the conference in progress. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the list of authorized participants comprises a restriction level, and wherein determining that the invitee does not match an authorized participant of the list of authorized participants for the conference comprises determining that a restriction level of the invitee does not match the restriction level of the list of authorized participants. 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein matching said data to a context further comprises matching the context to a file presented during the conference in progress. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein matching said data to a context further comprises matching said data to data stored in a calendar event file for the context. 
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein converting said audio to data describing the conference further comprises extracting the audio information from the conference beginning at expiration of a most extended audio lapse. 
     
     
       15. A computer program product including a non-transitory computer readable medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to carry out the steps of:
 receiving a request from an invitee to join a conference in progress; 
 extracting audio from the conference in progress, the audio including at least a portion of the conference in progress; 
 converting said audio to data describing the conference including transcribing the at least a portion of the conference in progress; 
 matching the data to a context, wherein the context comprises a specification of a subject matter of the conference and a list of authorized participants for the conference; 
 comparing the invitee to the list of the authorized participants for the conference; 
 responsive to determining that the invitee matches an authorized participant of the list of authorized participants for the conference, granting permission to the invitee to join the conference; and 
 responsive to determining that the invitee does not match an authorized participant of the list of authorized participants for the conference, denying the invitee access to the conference. 
 
     
     
       16. The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the context comprises a calendar event. 
     
     
       17. The computer program product of  claim 16 , wherein a scheduled time of the calendar event does not match a time of the conference in progress. 
     
     
       18. The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the list of authorized participants comprises a restriction level, and wherein determining that the invitee does not match an authorized participant of the list of authorized participants for the conference comprises determining that a restriction level of the invitee does not match the restriction level of the list of authorized participants. 
     
     
       19. The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein matching said data to a context further comprises matching the context to a file presented during the conference in progress. 
     
     
       20. The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein matching said data to a context further comprises matching said data to data stored in a calendar event file for the context.